


Keeping Up with the Solos

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben is a bit spoiled, Ben is an architect because I said so, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Neighbors, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rey is a chef, and an ass, and smitten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:07:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22054549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Why was Ben Solo of all people in her pool?!Rey tossed what she was doing aside and stomped all the way from the kitchen to her backyard. She yanked her door open, balled her hands into fists and marched to where Ben was swimming.“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?!”“Swimming,” he replied coolly and swam up to Rey’s feet, gripping the edge of the pool with his hand and looking right up at her. “You should join me.”Rey scoffed. “Ben get out of my pool,” she demanded and Ben muttered something under his breath about her being no fun as he hoisted himself up.Taking a step back to give him some room, Rey’s eyes went straight to Ben’s chest.Glistening skin.Freckles.Abs.Abs.She was screwed.Han and Leia move next door to Rey right at the start of summer. They were kind, very sweet people, but their son Ben was a completely different story.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 38
Kudos: 141





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this is my first ever Reylo fic (that I posted) and I thought up this whole fic literally last night when I couldn’t sleep and the beginning chapter isn’t that eventful since yeah first chapter but soon enough we’ll see more of these two :)
> 
> Anyway enjoy!!!

Right when the oven timer dinged, a knock was heard at the door that led to her backyard.

“Just a second!” Rey called out and quickly got the brownies she was making out of the oven and over by the windowsill to cool. 

“Do I smell brownies?!” Rey jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see Rose was only a few feet away from her. Her eyes lit up with excitement and she was grinning wickedly at Rey, a hopeful look on her face. 

“You can not have any,” she told her firmly and Rose pouted. “And what did I say about coming through my back door?” Rose shrugged and took a seat at the island, folding her arms together as she stared down the brownies. 

“To only use it for emergencies but this is an emergency!” She exclaimed and looked between Rey and the brownies. “You only make those on special occasion so...what’s the occasion?”

“New neighbors.” Rey turned away from her then to get out another mixing bowl, wanting to start up the frosting and get it on the brownies while they were still hot. “They moved in yesterday and I was too tired to greet them so I’m doing it today,” she explained as she grabbed a whisk as well and stood across from Rose at the island.

“You know,” Rose began as Rey started throwing some more ingredients together, “I was a new neighbor once too,” she nearly sung and a smile teased on Rey’s lips. 

“I’ll make them again for the block party. I promise.”

Rose groaned as if she was dying and sighed as if she was in pain. “But that’s three days from now! Are you really going to torture me? Does our friendship mean nothing to you?” Rey playfully rolled her eyes as she whisked the frosting. 

“To be fair, you never let me have any of the mango popovers you made last week,” Rey glanced up at her and Rose shot her an annoyed look. “And I can smell those from my house.”

Rose huffed. “Fine. Okay, no brownies for me till the block party and you better not let Finn and Poe take the leftovers because I might kill them.”

Rey put her hands up in defense. “Hey they’re hosting this year because Poe is so proud of his new grill and if they want to take my brownies I’m not gonna stop them.” Rose didn’t look pleased with that answer but let it drop. “Anyway, are you going to come with me to meet our new neighbors?”

“No,” she scrunched up her nose in slight disgust. “What if they’re weird? Or murderers?” 

“I don’t think they are,” Rey laughed off as she pouted the frosting over the warm brownies, “but I’ll make the brave sacrifice of meeting them and then you and everyone else can meet them at the block party.”

“You’re going to invite them?” 

“Of course. It’s for the neighborhood and they are our neighbors.” Rey touched the brownie pan to see it was warm but cooled off of enough for her to carry. “Last chance,” she sung as she grabbed the pan and Rose shook her head.

“You’re on your own with that one but I will help you out.”

Rose hopped off her seat and walked with Rey out her door and next door to the new neighbor’s house. Their house looked no different than Rey’s own color wise-beige with brown accents-but when it came to size it was much bigger. Their house was two stories versus Rey’s single story ranch and they had a two car garage while Rey only had one.

“Have fun with the Addams family,” Rose’s joke took Rey out of her thoughts and she gave her a small smile. 

“It’s not too late to come with me, you know. They’re only a couple of steps away.”

“That’s alright and like you said, I’ll meet them at the block party. Have fun!” Rose waved goodbye before walking back towards Rey’s house and turning the corner to go to hers.

Rey turned back to the house and took a deep breath. She always felt a little nervous meeting new people but this was her neighborhood which had a reputation of being nice and friendly. She never had any terrible neighbors, thankfully, and she had a feeling these new ones wouldn’t be either. 

With her head held high and shoulders straightened, Rey walked the few short steps up to the front porch and rang the doorbell. She drummed her fingers along the bottom of the pan and bit her lip as she waited for the door for open.

When it did, Rey was greeted by a woman who looked no older than sixty answered the door. She was smiling warmly at Rey and had an overall welcoming presence.

“Hi,” Rey greeted with a smile of her own. “I’m Rey, I live next door and I just wanted to say welcome to the neighborhood,” she presented the pan of brownies and the woman accepted them.

“How kind of you! I’m Leia,” she introduced and somehow managed to balance the pan in one hand to shake Rey’s hand. “My husband loves brownies-he only knows how to use the box mixes-so he will really appreciate these.” Rey smiled more, feeling her insides warm from the kindness. “Would you like to come in for a minute? I just made a fresh batch of lemonade.”

Rey grinned. “I would love to.”

Leia stepped aside and let her through. Rey’s eyes danced all around the wooden interior of the house and it seemed a whole lot bigger on the inside than the outside. 

“Ignore the boxes, we tend to take our time unpacking,” Leia told her as Rey came out of her thoughts and followed her to the kitchen. Her kitchen of course was bigger than Rey’s and had black countertops while she had white ones. 

The sound of loud footsteps creaking against the stairs and Rey turned her head to see someone was walking right towards her and the kitchen. He had long, dark hair which covered his face as he looked down at his phone and he was tall. Very tall.

“Ben,” Leia called out and he looked up, his eyes going to Leia briefly and then settling on Rey. Her mouth went a little dry since she believed she had never seen anyone so handsome. Ben’s eyes were dark and pierced right into her and Rey didn’t know what to make of it all. “This is Rey, our new neighbor.”

“Hi,” Rey cleared her throat before greeting. “It’s nice to meet you,” she added since her and Ben stared at each other like they were the only two in the room. 

“Likewise,” Ben replied quickly in a low mumble before turning his eyes back to Leia. “Mom can I talk to you real quick?”

“About?” Leia took a knife out of the knife rack on the counter and cut into the brownies. “Ben if this has to do with your house then it’s up to you. You’re the one living in it.” Rey felt a tad awkward standing there, feeling like she was not supposed to be listening to this conversation.

“It’s about the gazebo size.”

“Ask your father.”

“He told me to ask you.”

Leia sighed and flashed an apologetic smile to Rey. “Sorry, family stuff. Ben honey do you want a brownie?” She offered and Ben shook his head. “Your father didn’t make them.”

“I did,” Rey piped up and Ben’s eyes were back on her again. “I promise you will like them.” Ben only stared at her intensely as if he was trying to read her mind or something.

“Trying to cut back on the sweets.”

Leia hummed. “Since when?”

“Since now,” he mumbled before disappearing back upstairs.

“You have to excuse my son, he’s been under a lot of stress lately,” Leia apologized and went over to the fridge, pouring a glass of lemonade for Rey. “What do you do for a living, Rey?”

“I’m a chef actually,” she thanked Leia as she handed her the glass. “I can make just about anything,” Rey lightly bragged. 

“I for one love to cook and bake too. We should exchange recipes sometime.”

Rey beamed and nodded. “That would be lovely. Maybe you can make something for the block party Friday. The whole neighborhood is invited and you and your family are more than welcome to come.” Leia smiled at her kindly as she cut a brownie for herself and took a bite.

“We will be there,” she said once she finished chewing. “Rey these are absolutely delicious. Han!” Leia shouted and soon a door opening was heard. 

“What?!” Han’s voice called back and soon enough Han was stepping into the room. He had a head full of white hair but looked young around his face which was covered with grease, oil, and sweat. “The Falcon needs some parts and I think I need to go to the store and I’ll take Ben with me since he never-“ Han cut himself off as he saw the look on Leia’s face and he turned to look at Rey.

“This is our new neighbor, Rey. Rey this is my husband, Han.”

“Han Solo,” he introduced and stuck out his hand which he pulled away quickly to rub on his pant leg before extending it back. Rey took it and gave it a firm shake.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Rey made us brownies.”

Han’s eyes went wide as Leia handed him a freshly cut piece. “You made us brownies?” He took a big bite and nearly ate the piece in one bite. 

“I do for all my new neighbors,” she smiled as she took a sip of her lemonade. “This is very refreshing!” Rey took another sip and soon enough was drinking the whole glass in a few gulps.

“I use a little bit of mint in it, that’s my secret,” Leia winked and swatted Han’s hand away as he reached for another brownie. “Luke’s coming over for dinner tonight let’s not eat all of them,” she said sternly and Han pouted. 

“Well,” Rey spoke up, “I should get going. Have some things to do around the house,” she sort of lied. Rey only had to clean her dishes and then she was going to go over to Rose’s and indulge her about their new neighbors-and maybe let on she found Ben a little hot, despite his attitude.

Leia smiled at her again. “Well it was lovely meeting you, Rey. We’ll walk you out,” she and Han walked her to the door and when Rey turned around, she caught sight of Ben again. 

He was looking down at his phone, again, frowning as he typed something back. Ben ran a hand through his hair as he looked up and right at Rey.

“What time does the block party start?” Leia asked and Rey couldn’t peel her eyes away. 

“Six.” Ben looked Rey up and down and as soon as she felt her cheeks flush, she looked away. “I’ll see you then.” She gave one last look to Ben and smiled at Han and Leia before she gave a small wave goodbye and walked off.

“Tell everyone the Solos are coming!” Han called after her and Rey turned to give him one last smile before she disappeared into her house. 

She fanned herself as she suddenly felt hot. Rey was only wearing white shorts and a black top but maybe she was overheating. Her skin felt warm like she had been outside in the sun and she was a tiny bit sweaty too. 

Shaking her head to herself, Rey went over to her kitchen and cleaned up the dishes she dirtied. She cleared her head by doing that and when she looked up to glance through her window that peered into her backyard, she saw Ben.

Rey was transfixed as she watched him over their shared fence to see he was measuring something out. He did mention a gazebo earlier so Rey suspected he must be building that, right? 

She didn’t know how long she was staring but long enough for her water to become hot and she yanked her hand back and turned off the sink. Rey glanced up to see Ben was no longer outside. 

Bummer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is here and a bit more eventful than the first!!! Enjoy!!!

“I have nothing to wear,” Rey sighed to herself as she skimmed through her closet for the fifth time. Well she did have things to wear but she couldn’t wear them to the block party since they weren’t good enough. 

Why did Rey care anyway? She never thought twice about what she wore before tonight so what made it so different?

She shook her head to herself and grabbed the light pink romper Rose urged her to buy last summer. Rey wore it once and it was inside of her house only when no one saw her. It was very comfy, but she thought it was a bit too revealing.

The romper cut low in the front just a couple centimeters above her bra line and low in the back as well. She tied her hair in a purposefully messy half up half down style and then went over to her shoes. That was another debate.

Rey could wear heels but she had to walk to Finn and Poe’s house and she didn’t want to be uncomfortable standing in them the whole night or she could be casually and wear her typical white sandals. 

“Get over it Rey it’s just a party,” she said to herself as she slipped on her usual white sandals and was about to head out of her bedroom when she caught sight of the perfume on her dresser.

Did she ever wear perfume? No. Rey didn’t do perfume ever and yet she was spritzing on the floral scent on all parts of her exposed skin. She put too much on since she sneezed a couple of times and hopefully she didn’t attract too many bugs either. 

Rey left her bedroom, grabbed the brownies she made for the party-now Rose couldn’t bug her anymore-and left her house. 

The sun was still out but would soon set in a couple of hours and it shined on Rey’s skin, warming her up from head to toe. It wasn’t sticky either like it usually was this time of year which was good since Rey absolutely hated being sweaty and uncomfortable. 

She was almost about to turn the corner and pass Rose’s house when she heard her name be called behind her.

Rey turned around and smiled as she saw Leia and Han approaching. She looked past them out of curiosity to see if Ben was behind them, but she didn’t spot him at all. She was honestly a tiny bit disappointed since Rey hadn’t seen him since the day she first met him. He hadn’t even been outside!

“Rey?” Han narrowed his eyes slightly as concern overcame his face and she escaped her thoughts, smiling a tad apologetically at Han.

“Sorry just thinking about something,” she quickly brushed off. “Anyway, let me show you guys to the party.” Rey began leading the way and wondering if either of them would bring up Ben’s absence. She wanted to ask but she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

Rey wouldn’t want them to think she had a thing for their son or anything. Not that Rey did, she was just curious.

“We really enjoyed your brownies,” Leia mentioned after a couple of minutes of painful silence for Rey. “Ben nearly ate half of them,” she laughed and Rey mustered up a small one of her own. “Ben is coming too, he just keeps working.”

“Gets than from me,” Han boasted and Leia sighed.

“Workaholics run in the Solo family,” she mumbled and Rey nodded in understanding. “Han doesn’t understand what retirement means.”

“Personal projects are all about retirement.”

“What are you working on?” Rey asked, seeing the party seemed to be in full swing a block ahead.

“The Falcon. My most prized possession,” Leia snorted but Han ignored it. “I’ve had it forever and been restoring it ever since,” he smiled to himself and Leia shook her head. 

“It’s a car,” she explained to Rey’s confused expression. “It was a piece of junk when I met Han and that was nearly forty years ago.”

Rey laughed faintly. “Wow, but congratulations for being together that long.” Leia smiled at that and Han wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he looked at his wife like she was the whole world. Rey wanted to find love like that. 

Someday.

When they reached Poe and Finn’s house, Rey led them through the back gate to the backyard where it was crowded with people. 

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to my friends,” she beckoned for them to follow her and Rey set down her brownies on the dessert table before spotting Rose, Finn, and Poe by the grill chatting and laughing with drinks in their hands.

Finn caught her gaze first and beamed at her. “Rey!” He walked over to her and hugged her tightly. “You look great and is that perfume you’re wearing?” Finn pulled back and gave her a teasing look and Rey rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t want to smell like my kitchen for once.”

“Sure.”

“Okay well anyway, these are my new neighbors, Han and Leia,” she stepped aside to introduce them and Finn shook both of their hands. “This is Finn, his husband Poe,” she pointed to him over by the grill, “and next to him is Rose who lives across the street from me, and you guys too now.”

“It’s lovely to meet you all,” Leia looked at them kindly and Han gave a nod to everyone before going to where the food was. “Excuse me, I have to make sure he doesn’t give himself heartburn,” she laughed off before disappearing.

“So not the Addams family,” Rose spoke suddenly and Rey gave her a look. “What? You never know okay?” She turned to look at Poe. “You owe new twenty.”

“You two were betting on if my new neighbors are weird or not?” Rey shook her head at them. 

“Rose’s idea, not mine,” Poe said in his defense and looked at Finn. “Right honey?”

Finn put his hands up. “Don’t drag me into this. Rey let me make you a drink, I’ve been practicing my margarita skills,” he nearly sung and Rey sighed. 

“Okay but just one.”

“One,” Finn repeated and held up his finger before walking away. 

“So now that it’s just us girls and Poe,” Rose nudged her elbow and Poe grunted, “who you wearing that romper for?” 

Rey laughed. “Myself.”

“And the perfume?” Poe chimed in and Rey shot him a look. “What? I thought we were doing a thing,” he mumbled before turning back to the grill.

“I wanted to feel nice tonight, so what?” Rey wanted Finn to hurry up with that drink. She might need it more than she thought. “Anyway, I brought the brownies so you better have made those popovers, Tico.” Rose shrugged at the threat and took a sip of her own drink which was probably her usual coke and rum. 

“I made strawberry shortcake instead, sorry,” she apologized but was far from being sorry. 

“And what am I supposed to look forward to eating tonight?” 

“My burgers of course,” Poe said like it was obvious. “They’re the best in all the neighborhood. You know Rey, I should become a chef like you,” he started up and Rose laughed.

“And what would you do? Serve burgers only?”

“Yes!”

Rey excused herself while Poe built up his imaginative restaurant to find Finn. She made her way through the crowd of people till she saw Finn mixing up her drink.

“You look like a real bartender,” she commented as she approached him and Finn smiled as he handed her her drink.

“If you tell me it taste good then maybe I’ll become one.”

Rey took a sip and hummed contently. “It’s delicious. Is there pineapple in this?” Finn nodded.

“Poe told me to try it since he loves pineapple so I put two and two together.”

“Well it’s amazing.” Rey drank about half of it down before stopping. She wasn’t a lightweight or anything but she knew she would feel a buzz shortly. 

“Who invited Mr. Darcy?”

Rey scrunched her eyebrows together and looked to see who Finn was looking at. She saw a black shirt with black shorts and looked up at the face.

“That’s Ben,” she felt herself smiling as she set her drink down.

“Who?”

“Han and Leia’s son.”

“Does he know it’s like eighty degrees outside?”

Rey shrugged off the comment and began to make her way towards him. “I’ll be back!” She yelled to Finn before turning back to Ben. Her eyes focused on him and Rey felt a bit nervous for some reason as she made her way over to him.

He was even taller up close. 

She took a deep breath. 

“Hey.”

Ben slowly turned around and Rey was slightly breathless. He blocked the view of the sun but it flowed all around him. 

“Hi,” he replied lowly and switched his gaze to the phone in his hand. “Have you seen my parents?”

“Not since arriving here, sorry. Why don’t you have some food? Or a drink even,” she mumbled and crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly feeling a bit awkward and exposed.

Ben shook his head. “I can’t stay, I have work to do.” 

“What do you do?”

“Architect,” Ben slid his phone in his pocket and turned his eyes back to Rey. “Building my parents a gazebo while I stay with them for the summer,” Rey nodded, waiting for him to continue. “My house is being built.”

Rey cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. “I take it you designed it?” Ben nodded and pulled out his phone again and pressed a couple of things till he showed Rey a picture of a blueprint.

“I have a physical copy of it at home if you ever wanted to get a closer look. It’s hard to tell where everything is but,” he zoomed in and pointed to a square, “this is the master bedroom and over here is the master bathroom, then about five guest rooms-”

“Five guest rooms?” Rey cut him off with a weird look. “Are you running a brothel?”

Ben made a weird face at the joke. “I like to have space. And between you and me, I did it so my mom would get off my case about having room for her future grandchildren,” he grumbled before showing her another room of the house. “And this is the kitchen.”

Rey tilted her head to the side and scrunched up her nose. “It’s not big enough. My kitchen is probably twice the size of that,” she tapped on the screen and Ben seemed offended.

“I don’t need a big kitchen if it’s just me living in the house.”

“And your future five children.”

Ben shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket. “I’m not having five children.” Rey laughed and shook her head. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Me having five kids is funny to you? A total stranger?”

“We’re not really strangers, we’re neighbors.”

“My parents are your neighbors,” he corrected. “I’m only living with them temporarily.”

Rey hummed. “And how long will temporarily be?”

Ben ran a hand through his hair. “It was supposed to be done two months ago, I’ll leave it at that.” Rey giggled. “This funny to you too?”

“Well if you didn’t have five, technically six bathrooms it wouldn’t be taking so long.”

“It’s the plumbing actually that’s taking a while. The rest of the house is built.”

“So you’re stuck with a sad and small kitchen then?”

Ben let out a faint laugh. “Yeah I guess I am but I’m only cooking for one anyway so no harm done,” he wiped the back of hand on his forehead, clearly hot from his clothing.

The idea of Ben taking his shirt off crossed Rey’s mind but she brushed that away quickly.

“You’re going to stay in that big house by yourself?” Ben nodded. “Won’t you get lonely?” 

Before Ben could answer, Finn reappeared and handed Rey a drink and Ben one too. “Made a fresh one for you and your new friend,” he winked before walking back over to Poe to help him get the hamburgers on plates.

Ben sniffed it and made a weird face. “What’s in it?” 

“Pineapple,” Rey took a sip and felt the alcohol cool her down. “It’s really good.”

Ben hesitantly took a small sip before shrugging and taking another one. “Not bad. I prefer wine myself.”

“You look like you do,” she muttered and Ben gave her a look. “I have this thing where I can tell what people’s favorites are. Call it a chef’s gift.”

“Sounds fake.”

“Not fake,” Rey scoffed. “Look see that guy over there?” Rey pointed to her neighbor, Wedge, who lived a couple blocks down from her. “He’s a retired pilot. Favorite drink is coffee.”

Ben barked out a laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Don’t believe me?” 

“Not one bit.”

Rey looked him up and down, biting down on her bottom lip. “You seem like the kind of guy to like white chocolate, specifically with raspberries. You like regular chocolate but not as much,” she theorized and Ben looked at her like she was from a different planet. Galaxy even.

“Okay that’s weird.”

Rey shrugged. “Told you, it’s a gift.”

Ben took a long sip of his drink, studying her. “Alright Rey,” he said her name smoothly and it did weird things to Rey’s belly, “what’s my least favorite food?”

“I can only tell favorites.”

“Well if it’s truly a gift you can tell least favorites too,” he challenged and Rey was too stubborn to back down from one of those.

“Fine.”

She thought for a moment and truly studied Ben.  
He seemed to not like being in the kitchen which meant he didn’t like to cook so he was probably not a fan of…

“Meat?”

“How the-Did my mom talk to you or something?”  
Rey shook her head. “Okay well, which kind?”

Rey shrugged. “I don’t know, red?”

“Lamb, but close enough. That’s creepy though. Actually very creepy.”

“Hey you asked,” Rey finished off her drink and let out a noise of satisfaction when she did. She kind of wanted another one but she should probably eat first before she did. “I’m going to grab some food, want to come?”

Ben seemed a bit shocked by the question and shook his head. “That's okay I think I should head home, have work to do.” He pulled out his phone to glance at the time. “Yeah I should-”

“Don’t you think work can wait?”

“Not really,” Ben finished off his drink and handed it to Rey. “See you around.” He walked away then and Rey set the glasses down on an empty table and ran after Ben. 

He walked pretty fast and Rey had to run a little in order to catch up to him, following him just before he got to the end of the block. 

“Ben-”

“Parties are not my scene,” he said before she could say anything else and Rey frowned. 

“You’d rather be alone inside than with people?”

“Yeah.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous.”

Ben crossed his arms over his chest and took a step closer to her. “Last time I checked I didn’t ask for your opinion,” he clipped and Rey glared up at him. Ben turned around and began to walk again and Rey kept up with his pace.

“You always this rude to people you just met?”

“Technically I’ve met you before.” Rey made her way in front of him and halted him on the sidewalk. “You always this stubborn?” 

“Are you talking about the time when you stared at me like a creep?”

“I stared at you? You stared at me!” Ben exclaimed a bit dramatically. “You just-You’re weird with your staring and your food thing.”

“I’m weird? That’s your conclusion about me?”

“Yes,” he hissed. “Now leave me alone, I have work to do,” Ben gave her a final look before he stalked over to his house and slammed the door behind him. 

Rey breathed out her frustration and went back to the party, not wanting Ben Solo to ruin her night. She wouldn’t let him ruin her night either because Rey was going to have so much _fun_ without him being there. 

If Ben wanted to be in his house and alone then he could. Rey didn’t care. 

At all.

Not one bit.

When she returned to the party, Rey had another one of those margaritas Finn made and found Rose eating one of her brownies.

“Some people are assholes.”

“What happened?”

“Ben Solo happened,” she grumbled against her glass. “He’s just so arrogant like he thinks he knows me based on one conversation,” she rolled her eyes again and Rey wondered how such sweet and nice people like Han and Leia could have Ben. He was so different from them.

“Who?” Rose made a weird face and then something seemed to click for her. “Wait was he that the guy in the black? Tall? Kinda cute?”

Rey snorted at the last part. “Yes and much as he is all of those things, he’s an asshole. He said I’m weird.” She stared down into her glass, seeing it was nearly empty. “I think I need another drink,” she sighed.

“I don’t think you do. Come on, let’s say goodbye to everyone and I’ll walk you home.”

Rey nodded at the offer and Rose slung her arm through hers as they said their goodbyes to pretty much everyone and then they walked back to Rey’s house.

“I dressed cute for nothing,” she mumbled and Rose laughed.

“You we’re dressing for Ben?”

Rey scoffed. “Absolutely not. I just thought I would have more fun tonight,” she whined and gave Rose a long hug as she walked her up to her front door. “You’re a good friend, even if you didn’t make the popovers.” Rose laughed and pulled away from her.

“I’ll make some tomorrow and you’ll be the first to have them,” Rose promised and Rey smiled.

“That’s why you’re one of my best friends.” Rose laughed some more and waved Rey goodbye before walking across the street to her house.

Rey made her way into her house and immediately went to her room. She was too tired to shower so she slipped out of her romper and threw on and oversized shirt and slept in her underwear. She practically ripped her bra off and flopped down on her bed, closing her eyes. 

Her head was buzzing but her body felt nice and fuzzy from the alcohol. She knew she would have one drink but she had maybe three? Four? She didn’t remember but all she remembered was she shared one with Ben. 

Ben who thought she was weird. 

Rey wasn’t weird. Ben was the weird one. Like who the fuck liked white chocolate and raspberry anyway? 

Oh that gave Rey an idea. 

She opened her eyes and got out of bed, walking over to her kitchen. Rey opened up fridge and skimmed the shelves, seeing she had no raspberries. She couldn’t torture Ben with a dessert then.

Rey sighed to herself and looked outside, seeing Ben was in his backyard, walking around with a measuring tape. 

“Hey Ben!” Rey yelled out before she realized it. “Ben!” She practically screamed his name before she caught his attention and he looked at her. “I’m not weird! You are!”

Ben shook his head at her and looked away, making Rey pout. 

“You’re no fun!” Yeah she was too drunk. “Time for bed Rey,” she told herself and headed back to bed. 

_Knock._

_Knock._

_Knock._

Rey’s eyelids felt heavy as she slowly opened them. Her clock glared at her, showing it was almost seven in the morning. 

_Knock._

Was someone at her door? Rey’s head was hurting too much for her to be thinking clearly. After all it was way too early. 

Painfully she made her way out of bed and hugged herself as she made her way to the front door. She was going to kill whoever it was. Maybe.

Rey flicked her lock and opened her door, finding no one was there. God she was imagining things. 

_Knock._

_Knock._

_Knock._

She turned around and walked closer to the noise, finding herself in front of her back door. It was glass so Rey was able to see straight into her backyard, and looked right over the fence to see Ben was doing something.

Rey did not feel like dealing with him right now but did she have a choice? No. Her sleep was interrupted. She needed to do something.

The warm air greeted her when Rey opened her door and she closed her eyes, soaking it in. It felt nice and comforting and Rey would’ve loved to enjoy the weather, but maybe four hours later when she was more well rested. 

She yawned as she walked over to Ben and stood on her toes to see Ben was hammering a piece of wood. The grass was wet beneath her feet and Rey almost slipped and had to grip onto the fence for balance, which caught Ben’s attention. 

“Do you need something?” Ben had his eyes on her for less than a second. He turned back to his wood and hammer, banging away. 

“It’s not even seven in the morning on a Saturday. What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” 

Rey felt her annoyance rising and her being tired wasn’t going to help either. “Ben please,” she sighed, running a hand through her tangled hair. “You’re going to wake the whole neighborhood up.” 

Ben didn’t reply to that, he simply kept hammering away. “That it?”

“Yeah,” Rey shook her head at him and walked away. “Asshole,” she muttered under her breath, the hammering continuing behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Rey subconsciously dress cute for Ben? Maybe...
> 
> Next two chapters will be in Ben’s POV and that will be the pattern for the fic :)
> 
> Chapter three is in the works and hope to have it done sometime next week but we’ll see!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!!! I got super sick (bronchitis) for about three weeks and school started up again and I had most of this written but then rewrote some parts...
> 
> Anyway it's here now so enjoy!!!

Everything was Rey’s fault. 

_Everything._

If it wasn’t for her, Ben wouldn’t be so...riled up? Annoyed? Horny? He honestly couldn’t tell but from the first moment he saw her-yes he looked first he couldn’t help himself-he was taken.

She was so beautiful and perfect and adorable whenever she was angry with Ben. He knew he shouldn’t find her anger cute since if Rey knew he found her cute when she was angry she would probably punch him. Ben wouldn’t blame her if he did and he might be slightly turned on from it too.

Okay Ben needed to stop since if he put Rey and turned on in the same sentence again his body might start thinking for itself and the last thing he needed right now was to get a boner in a hardware store of all places. 

He needed supplies for the gazebo and didn’t need to think about Rey. At all. Why was he even thinking about her anyway?

The last time Ben saw her, she was tired and cranky and wearing a big shirt that barely covered her and it made Ben’s brain blank out for a minute. He wondered what she was wearing or what she _wasn’t_ wearing under that shirt and Ben had a tiny fantasy about her walking around in his shirt too...

He wondered if she still smelled like that perfume she wore at the party too. Ben absolutely loved the scent and he wanted to wrap his arms around her and breathe it in but that would be weird. Very weird. 

But he still wanted to do it and he wanted her to wear that romper again. She was gorgeous in it and if Ben wasn’t such an idiot he would’ve told her. 

Rey was going to drive him crazy this summer and probably forever. He just knew it. And he didn’t even know her last name!

His phone buzzing in his pocket thankfully snapped him out of his thoughts. He pulled it out and answered right away as he saw it was his dad calling. 

“Hey Dad,” he reached for some more wooden planks and dropped them in the cart, pretty much clearing out the whole shelf of them.

“Hey, I need paint. And a screw and a new wrench.”

Ben sighed. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened!” Han exclaimed. “I just need some more supplies, that’s all,” Ben hummed and nodded, not that Han could see that. “Okay so I might’ve broken something on the Falcon but it’s fine! Just don’t tell your mother.”

“Between you and me,” he agreed as he pushed his cart towards the next aisle where the tools were. 

Ben must’ve been seeing things since a familiar, very familiar brunette with a white sweatshirt on and beige shorts was peering up at the rows of tools. Her hair was up in a bun, exposing her soft features and wide hazel eyes Ben couldn’t look away from. 

Han was telling him something on the phone too but Ben wasn’t listening. “Dad, I’m going to have to call you back,” he hung up and dropped his phone in his cart, taking a deep breath.

_Don’t be an idiot._

He took a step closer to her.

 _Don’t be an idiot._

“You need help?” 

_Smooth Ben._

Rey’s eyes went over to his and she looked just as surprised to see Ben here as he did seeing her. Must be a small town. 

“Um,” Rey bit down on her lip and Ben wondered what it would be like if he did that to her instead. He really needed to stop. “My AC is broken.”

“And you’re wearing a sweatshirt?” He tilted his head to the side and Rey shrugged. 

“Took a cold shower,” she mumbled and reached for a certain screw before putting it back down. “I called a repair guy and he said I needed a new compressor coil and then he would come over.”

Ben scoffed, already feeling annoyed by the technician he never met. He always hated repair guys, they were so _cocky_ not that Ben was much different himself, but he wasn’t that cocky. 

“How much is he charging you?”

Rey sighed heavily. “One.”

“One? One what? Hundred?”

“Thousand.”

“One thousand dollars for a compressor coil?!” Ben raised his voice and thought it was completely ridiculous! “Do you know how expensive those things are alone and he wants you to pay him a thousand for instillation?” Ben shook his head. 

“You’re being a bit dramatic,” Rey hissed and Ben rolled his eyes. 

“Sweetheart you’re wasting your money.”

Rey was glaring at him now. That couldn’t be good. 

“I’m not your sweetheart,” she growled and Ben rolled his eyes again. 

“Look Rey,” he began slowly and hoped this didn’t lead into another argument. He hadn’t spoken to Rey in a week and boy he missed it. He couldn’t fuck this up. “I’ll fix your AC.”

Rey shook her head. “No.”

“No?”

“You’re an architect.”

“So?”

“What do you know about fixing things?”

Ben laughed. Really laughed. Full belly and everything. If he continued he might be in tears. 

“Okay fine. You can go drain your bank account and pay some random guy a thousand bucks to install something you probably don’t even need because you’re too stubborn to let me do it for free.”

Rey huffed and crossed her arms over his chest. “I’m not being stubborn, Ben,” she clipped. “And you’re the last person I want in my house.”

Ouch. Ben was going to pretend that one didn’t hurt him. It only hurt a tiny bit but still hurt. 

“Yeah whatever,” Ben turned his cart around and started to walk out of the aisle, grabbing what his dad needed along the way before turning the corner into the next one. 

He was gripping the shopping cart tightly and Ben got to the aisle of paint and tried to calm himself down by looking at all the colors.

It was too soon to paint the gazebo but Ben liked to get things ahead of time so when it was time to paint, it would be ready.

His mom wanted it to be white and blue and splashes of pink and green. She didn’t really clarify what shades and when Ben asked she simply said she trusted his decision. 

The white was simple so he picked the brightest one he could find and then stared at the rows and rows of blue.

He heard a clearing of his throat and he looked next to him, seeing Rey had appeared. Her expression was blank as she stared at Ben and she was holding up a picture on her phone. 

“What?”

Rey rolled her eyes and shoved the phone in his face. “Do I need a new compressor or not?”

Ben took her phone and held it back at a more appropriate position and zoomed in and out. “No. It needs to be cleaned and that’s probably your problem,” he handed her phone back to her and looked at the paint. “You know for someone who didn’t want my help-”

“Will you clean it?” Ben looked back at her. “Please,” she added. 

“One condition.” 

Rey sighed. “What?”

“You make me lunch.”

“Done.” Well that was easy. “Do I need to get anything?” Ben shook his head and Rey nodded, looking at the paint. “You need help?”

Ben shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “I just need paint,” he skimmed the fifty different shades of blue again, not sure which one to get. 

“Which ones?”

Ben repeated the colors he needed and Rey immediately grabbed buckets of paint before adding them to the cart. 

“There,” she brushed her hands together like it was nothing. “I’ll leave the back door unlocked, you can walk through the fence.” Ben nodded and she walked off then, he watched her as she did too.

He reached for his phone and quickly called his dad back, apologizing for hanging up so abruptly earlier. 

“There was a girl, wasn’t there?”

Ben blushed all the way up to his ears and laughed it off, grabbing the supplies he would need to clean Rey’s compressor. “No. No girl.”

Han didn’t sound convinced on the other end as he hummed and Ben shook his head. “Rey’s a nice girl.”

“She’s alright. Kind of weird.” 

“Well your mother invited her over for dinner. She wants her to meet Luke before he leaves. Thinks they’d have a lot in common.”

Ben’s stomach felt weird. Was he sick? Happy? 

“Rey’s coming over?”

“Yeah. Look I gotta go, your mom’s making lunch and I need to uh-clean up before she comes in the garage so I’ll see you when I get home.”

“Alright,” Ben made his way towards the checkout. “Love you.” Han said his usual “I know” before Ben hung up. 

He slid his phone in his pocket and took his wallet out, getting ready to pay. He couldn’t believe he would be seeing Rey _twice_ today! It had to be his lucky day. 

Ben would have to shower though before he saw her for dinner. He had to look his best because as much as she disliked him, he still wanted to look his best around her because maybe Rey would change her mind.

Well Ben would have to stop being an idiot first. 

Once he checked out, Ben headed over to Rey’s since he was in no real rush to drop his stuff off at home, it could wait. 

He parked his car in his own driveway, grabbed the stuff he needed, and went through the backyard like Rey requested. 

She had a pool, Ben never noticed that before. He would surely take advantage of that…

Ben knocked on her glass door before sliding it open, seeing Rey was only a couple of feet away in her kitchen. She seemed to be in her own world, unaware of Ben’s presence. 

Rey was cutting what looked like a fish and she was doing it so elegantly. Her face was serious and she was very focused on what she was doing. Ben leaned up against the wall and just watched her.

Maybe Rey was right. He was weird.

When she finally saw he was there, she blushed and mumbled something under her breath and led Ben outside and to the side of her house where her AC unit was. 

Rey let him be without saying a word and Ben cleaned her compressor in about twenty minutes. It was a very easy job and one Rey could really do herself, but she asked for Ben’s help and Ben wanted an opportunity to spend time with her. 

He was so dumb for telling Rey to stay away from him because Ben couldn’t stay away from her. He always found himself peeking over the fence to see if she was outside or see if he could tell if she was in her kitchen or not.

God he sounded like a creep. 

Even if Rey was interested in him she would probably be so creeped out too. He was hopeless. 

Ben wasn’t bad with girls, really he wasn’t. He knew how to talk to them, sometimes, and his last relationship went _okay_ even though it only lasted about six months and it was nearly six years ago. 

He was almost thirty now and he was still single and only had sex once in his life and boy he was screwed. Rey would never go out with him!

Just as he was starting to sweat, Ben headed back inside and was greeted by a lovely plate of freshly cooked salmon with some potatoes and roasted vegetables. 

Rey appeared with her own plate and a glass of water, sliding it to Ben which he drank down in three gulps. “Is it done?”

Ben nodded and cut into the salmon, feeling his taste buds scream with joy. This was probably the best food he’s had in awhile-don't tell his mom. 

“Are you sure I can’t pay you?”

Ben nodded again, continuing to scarf down his food even though he should try to savor it. Rey refilled his water for him and Ben managed out a thank you before he kept eating. 

Rey kept staring at him though. Which was odd. Very odd. 

Was Ben eating sloppily? He slowed down to chew and swallow and took a sip of water, holding her gaze. 

His mouth was dry when he put his water down even though he just had some. Something was wrong here. Rey was still looking at him and Ben stared right back. Was there something behind him? Something on his face?

Ben should say something. He should. But he didn’t know what to say. Should he compliment her? 

“You cook really well,” he said dumbly. 

“Thank you,” she cleared her throat and rubbed at the back of her neck which Ben always thought was a gesture of nervousness. But why was Rey nervous? 

Ben’s eyes darted back and forth between Rey and his nearly empty plate. Boy this was awkward but kudos to Ben for maintaining a conversation with a girl as beautiful as Rey.

God he couldn’t stop staring. Soon enough his eyes were off his plate entirely and just on her. They just stared at each other. Minutes went by, hours could’ve went by even, he didn’t know, but he did know that they kept staring. At each other. 

_Don’t be an idiot._

“You know if you took a picture, it would last longer.”

Okay he was an idiot. His mouth moved a whole lot faster than his thoughts and it seemed Rey snapped out of whatever trance she was in and turned up her nose.

“Wouldn’t want my camera to break,” she replied rather coldly. “And don’t flatter yourself Ben, I was looking behind you, not at you.”

Ben rolled his eyes at the remark and turned his head around to see the only thing behind him was Rey’s living room furniture and a window which overlooked the house across the street.

“Stalking your neighbor?” He turned back to her and Rey gave him a nasty look. “You know, no one likes overly nosy neighbors.”

“I’m not nosy,” she huffed. 

Ben shrugged. “You are a tiny bit.”

“It’s called being friendly, Ben. Something you need to take note on.”

“Oh I’m not friendly? Remind me again who was the one who just fixed your air conditioner? For free?”

Rey rolled her eyes at the question. “Get out of my house.” 

“Gladly,” Ben stood up and walked over to Rey’s back door, taking a deep breath as he looked at her again. “You know-” Ben’s words cut off as he gazed at Rey again and he really found himself at a loss for words. 

He was finding it really hard to be mad at her. Something was truly wrong with him.

Rey gestured for him to go on but no words came out of his mouth. He simply opened up her backdoor and stepped out, leaving her possibly confused.

Ben walked around her backyard, which included a pool he didn’t notice before, and unlatched the part of the fence that connected their yards. He stared at the unfinished base of the gazebo and Ben knew he should probably get that done tonight so he could move onto the rest. 

He also needed to get Rey out of his head too so distracting himself in his work would have to do. Would it be effective? Ben wasn’t quite sure but it didn’t hurt to try.

He made his way back to his car and took his supplies he bought out of the trunk and hauled them over to the garage where he was expecting to find his dad, but he was nowhere in sight.

Ben seized the opportunity to get a good look at the Falcon. He hadn’t seen it in probably at least five years but looking at it now made him feel nostalgic. He remembered when he was little, he would sit in the front seat and pretend to drive it while his dad would repair whatever needed to be fixed.

“Take a picture Ben, might last longer,” his eyes snapped up to see Han was now standing in the doorway of the garage, a hammer in hand. 

“Just looking, not touching. I promise.”

Han shrugged. “Wouldn’t care if you did. She’s yours as much as she is mine,” he laid down on the creeper and rolled himself under the car. 

“Mom told me you wanted to be buried in it.”

Han scoffed and rolled out from under the Falcon. “I said that as a joke,” he gave him a fake warning look and Ben let out a faint laugh. “But I would if I could, trust me. Your mother would not be pleased with me if I did though,” he let out a low whistle before going back under. “Did you get the supplies?”

“Yeah, got them right here,” he set the bag down with the supplies on the ground near Han’s leg. “So what exactly happened?”

“Nothing happened, just a minor thing is broken but it’s fine. I’ll have it fixed before dinner that is if you’re mom doesn’t have me kicked out of here,” Han laughed and Ben took some of the supplies he needed before he started to head out. “And Ben?”

“Yeah?”

Han scooted himself out from under the car and looked at his son again. “I know you know this but be...nice tonight.” Ben cocked an eyebrow, unsure of what he meant. “Your mother heard you bickering with Rey.” Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair, this was going to go well. 

“Dad-”

“She’s a very kind girl, Ben. She’d be good for you.”

His face heated up and boy did he hope could blame it on the weather. “She is but Dad-”

“I’m just saying. The men in this family tend to fall for beautiful, strong females. Look at your mother, and her mother.”

“Are you and Mom going to set me up with every beautiful girl my age?”

Han shrugged nonchalantly and went back under the car. “Never said we were setting you two up-unless you want us to? You know Ben, you can talk to me about anything especially Rey,” he practically sung and Ben shook his head.

“I’ll see you at dinner,” he excused and headed upstairs to get some actual work done. If he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Ben and Rey were staring at each other, I previously wrote they would kiss but I thought it was too soon...
> 
> So the kiss will wait ;)
> 
> Stay tuned!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I’m sorry it’s so short but I didn’t really know what else to add?? Like I had some dinner conversations but it was...weird so I’ll just wait to the next chapter to expand :)
> 
> Enjoy!!

Ben Solo was _not_ a child. He was at some point in his life like every person, but he was not currently a child.

Was he hiding in his room like one? Of course he was because Rey would be showing up any minute now and Ben decided he would opt for eating whatever leftovers out of the fridge later. When Rey was gone. And in her own house.

It wasn’t like Ben didn’t want to see her because he did, he liked seeing her since Rey was pretty but it would be...awkward to say the least, especially after their lunch conversation. 

The inevitable would happen anyway where his mom would come up to his room and drag him downstairs by his ear just to get him to eat. Ben had a slightly weird feeling his parents wanted him to be with Rey too which would only make the dinner even more awkward than it needed to be.

Thankfully, Uncle Luke was in town for one more night and the main focus would be on him and Rey at dinner anyway and not Ben. The last thing Ben wanted was for the attention to be on him and Rey and be forced to talk to her. 

Him and Rey just didn’t get along and Ben accepted that. He accepted her not liking him and Ben wasn’t really helping himself in that department either; he mainly hoped she didn’t _stare_ at him again. Rey’s hobby outside of cooking seemed to include staring at Ben. Not that he minded, but he wished she would just do something instead of stare like talk to him about what was on her mind or something. 

He was getting too old for this. It would only be a matter of time before his parents started to actually hook him up with some random girl and hope they hit it off and get married. But Ben needed to put his big boy pants on and man up.

Well he was a man, but he needed to step up his game.

Maybe it was about time Ben started to actually do something. Do something about Rey. 

Boy he was really contradicting himself. 

Okay so he liked Rey, obviously. Rey didn’t need to know that but maybe Ben could...be nicer? Yeah, that was what he would do. Fight awkwardness with niceness. No more petty arguments or calling her weird or anything. He would be the gentleman he was born to be, after all, it did run in his family.

Then, well Ben hoped all of that will work and Rey will warm up to him. And he would go from there. 

He could do this. He had hope and impulse guiding him.

Ben ran a hand through his hair and stood up. He was already dressed for dinner with a black polo which his grandma got him when he graduated high school that he never wore and was surprised fit him, and a pair of jeans. He took a deep breath and walked over to his bedroom door and opened it.

Speaking of the devil.

Rey was standing there and Ben’s mouth went dry. She was wearing a pale yellow sundress and she looked absolutely stunning. Her hair was piled up neatly into a bun and was that perfume Ben smelled? 

“Sorry, looking for the bathroom,” Rey’s mumble took Ben out of his thoughts and he blinked out of his daze. 

“Mine,” he said stupidly. “I mean you can use mine, it’s here,” Ben stepped aside and pointed in the direction of his private one. He wondered why Rey didn’t go before she left, but maybe Ben was upstairs for a lot longer than he thought.

“Thanks,” Rey replied awkwardly and Ben nodded, nonchalantly watching her walk over to his bathroom and close the door. 

Ben debated for a minute if he should wait up here for her or not but before he could make the decision, he heard a flush followed by the running of the sink and soon enough, Rey was out of the bathroom. 

They stared at each other again. 

“Working?”

“What?”

“Are you working?” Rey asked again and Ben nodded. “Well, dinner should be ready soon so,” Ben nodded and boy was it awkward. 

“I’ll be down when it is.”

Rey nodded and her eyes went towards Ben’s desk. “What’s that?” She nodded in the direction Ben’s eyes began to follow, realizing she was looking at the carved pieces of wood he had.

“Oh it’s for the gazebo,” he walked over to his desk and handed Rey a piece of wood carved to look like a rose, no bigger than a quarter. “My parents want flowers on them and I was thinking to put it on the outside like a rail and at first I was going to paint them but I thought this would be easier,” he explained, feeling himself relax a bit as he talked about work. 

“They’re beautiful.”

Ben looked up at Rey then, watching as she was transfixed by the wooden piece. “They are.” Rey’s eyes flicked up to meet his and Ben felt the air change. “Anyway,” he said quickly, “you can keep them if you want. I don’t mind.”

“I think you should, maybe you can make something out of them.” 

“Like what?”

Rey shrugged. “Don’t know, you’re the architect,” she laughed faintly and Ben felt a smile tease at his lips. 

“I can make just about anything,” he boasted slightly and Rey snorted. 

“But you can’t cook,” she teased.

“I _can_ cook,” he corrected. “I just don’t like doing it, there’s a difference.” 

“What can you cook?”

“What can you make?”

Rey hummed. “Touché.” Silence overcame them both again before Rey spoke up once more. “Your uncle is very nice, as are your parents,” Ben nodded. 

“Yes they are but according to you, that gene skipped over me.”

Shit. He wasn’t supposed to say that was he?

Rey laughed. “Clearly it did, Ben.” Ben folded just arms across his chest but in a casual pose, not so much defensive. He was secretly glad Rey played what he said off as a joke, but she really didn’t think he was nice?

“What are your parents like?” He asked in hope of taking the conversation off of him and he was genuinely curious. Regardless of how Rey felt about him, he still wanted to get to know her. 

“They passed when I was little.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Rey shook her head. “Don’t be, it’s alright. I don’t mind talking about them or anything,” Ben only nodded, unsure of what to say. “We should head downstairs, I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are.” 

Ben would’ve laughed out loud if he could. To think what his parents would think if they found out Rey was in his room.

“Dinner’s ready,” both of them jump and turn towards the door to see Luke was standing there, looking in between them both a bit weirdly.

“Excuse me,” Rey made her way through and walked past Luke, heading back downstairs. 

Ben watched her as he go before turning his eyes towards his uncle who was looking right at him with a curious expression.

“Please don’t make that face.”

“What face?”

“The face where you’re thinking about what you thought went on in here and you’re gonna tell my mom and then she’s going to bug me about.”

Luke cocked an eyebrow. “Did something go on in here?”

“No!” Ben hissed quickly. “She just...used the bathroom.”

Luke slowly nodded. “Okay well, I’ll see you downstairs,” he left then before coming back a second later. “And Ben? I don’t have to tell your mother anything, Leia and I have twin senses,” he reminded him and Ben snorted, watching as he left too.

When he was little, Luke used to tell Ben him and his mother could read each other’s thoughts so whenever Ben would act up, not that he did, he thought his mom would find out immediately. As he got older he realized it wasn’t true at all, but his mom and Luke did tend to know what the other was thinking which was a bit odd. Some twin thing Ben would never understand. 

He shook himself out of his thoughts and finally made his way out of his room and downstairs. He was less nervous than he was before and maybe Rey was to thank for that. Ben actually talked with her and they didn’t argue! Maybe this would be a whole lot easier than he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be back to Rey’s POV!!! Stay tuned!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After six hours of homework, time to update!!! Hope you enjoy!

Something was wrong with Ben. 

Something was _very_ wrong with Ben.

It all started during dinner-no even before that. Rey wasn’t sure when it started really but it started ever since she went up to Ben’s room.

He was being...nice. And as far as Rey was aware of, Ben and nice didn’t go together in a sentence. At all. His parents, yes, his uncle, yes, but Ben? Nice? No, it was all a big fat no…

Ben was probably putting on an act, a facade since company was around and he had to be polite. That had to be it. There was no way that Ben Solo would be nice to Rey. It wasn’t possible! 

“So Rey, what’s it like being a chef?”

She blinked and looked to see someone was talking to her. Right, she was still at dinner. 

Rey turned her head towards Luke, who was very fascinating and was everyone in Ben’s family great? She wished she could say the same about her own, but the only family she truly had left was her grandfather who was the least judicious man she had ever known.

“It’s good,” she replied easily and shooed her thoughts away. “I love to cook and don’t really see it as work.”

“Amen to that,” Han raised his glass of wine before taking a sip and drinking what was left in his glass. “That’s how I feel about the Falcon,” he practically cooed and a faint groan was heard from Leia. “Did I ever tell you the story of how I got it?”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t believe you have.”

“Dad,” Ben gave Han a look and Han put his hands up in defense.

“What? Rey’s never heard the story before! I think we owe to our guest to tell her, no?” Ben merely rolled his eyes and Han gave him a look right back. “You were conceived in that car and it’s going to you someday so-”

“Dad!” Ben hissed and Rey sucked in her bottom lip, trying not to grin. He blushed all the way to his ears and Rey couldn’t help but think it was completely adorable. 

Her and Ben exchanged brief eye contact and Rey flashed him a small smile and she might be seeing things, but it seemed Ben blushed even harder than he already was.

“Anyway,” Han continued on, oblivious to his son’s embarrassment, “the Falcon used to belong to a good friend of mine, Lando. Lando and I grew up together, he lived across the street, all that good stuff,” Rey nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“They’re still friends to this day,” Leia chimed in.

“We are. He was the best man at my wedding, godfather of Ben. Great guy, really great guy but he was a cheater when it came to his cards,” Han let out a faint laugh as he reminisced. “Lando was undefeated, maybe you’ll get to play him some day, or so he thought he was undefeated.”

“The triumphant victory of Han Solo,” Ben muttered unenthusiastically. 

“Exactly. I told Lando if I won, I won his car”

Rey cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. “So you won?”

Han nodded. “I won. And how I did it will forever remain a family secret,” he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head, looking and probably feeling smug. 

“And if a family member tells?”

“It’s forbidden,” Luke whispered, “no one but Skywalkers and Solos can know.” Rey nodded in understanding. 

“Understand completely.”

“I’m going to go grab dessert,” Leia announced and excused herself from the table. Han immediately got up and followed her to the kitchen and Luke excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Ben and Rey. 

Alone.

Rey tapped her fingers gently against her wine glass, unsure of what to say or if she should say something. What was there to say? 

“Do you like movies?”

_Do you like movies? Really Rey? Why not just ask him if he likes the color black?_

Ben nodded. “Love them, especially the rom-coms.”

Rey snorted. “You can’t be serious.”

“What? What’s wrong with rom-coms?”

“They’re so...cheesy.”

Ben shrugged in a way that resembled Han’s. “So what? Maybe people like cheesy.”

“You like cheesy?” Rey shook her head. “They’re so predictable.”

“It’s a love story.”

“It’s terrible.”

Ben narrowed his eyes at her slightly as if he was studying her. “You've never seen a good rom-com or you don’t believe in love,” Rey laughed and rolled her eyes. 

“I do believe in love but that has nothing to do with me not liking rom-coms.”

“It has everything to do with it.”

“Are you some psychologist now, Ben?” 

Ben made a weird face at the comment but didn’t say anything. “All I’m saying is when people don’t have romance going on in their life, they hate romance movies. It’s basic science.”

“Says who? You? An architect?”

Ben hummed and nodded. “Yeah, says me.”

“Alright,” Rey rolled back her shoulders and leaned forward a little bit, “so what you’re saying is in order for me to enjoy romantic comedy movies, I must have romance in my life?” 

“The correlation is undeniable.”

Rey rolled her eyes, again. “And where will I find this romance, Ben?”

The blush returned. The blush returned and the air got thicker and Rey’s stomach felt weird. She was excited and nervous but she didn’t understand why she was feeling either of those things. 

A nonchalant shrug from Ben.

“Sometimes the things you don’t see could be right in front of you.” 

“That makes no sense.” Rey looked him up and down, studying him herself for a minute. “If it’s right in front of me, I should be able to see it.”

A faint smile formed on his face. “Maybe you’re not looking hard enough. Or at all.”

Oh god. Did Ben think what she thought he meant? Was he _flirting_ with her?! No. No! No way. No fucking way Ben Solo? Interested in Rey? Please…

But why did Rey find herself secretly wishing he was? She wanted him to be her summer crush and god what was wrong with her? This is Ben.

Rey doesn’t like Ben. At all. Whatsoever. 

And Ben doesn’t like her either. He’s made it more than obvious but right now was telling a different story. Ben was probably just messing with her and Rey was overthinking this whole thing. She had to be. 

Luckily before their conversation could continue, everyone returned to the table and Leia returned with a cheesecake in hand. 

Rey dove into her piece as soon as it was put in front of her. She loved cheesecake-it was a guilty pleasure-and if she could make it all the time, she would. Maybe she would make it tomorrow since she really didn’t have much to do anyway. 

Ben didn’t seem too fond of cheesecake or he wanted to get back to work or go because of Rey since he excused himself from the table and went upstairs. 

And for some odd reason, Rey excused herself and followed him upstairs. She didn’t know what had gotten into her lately and maybe it was the wine, but Rey found herself at the top of the stairs and staring at Ben’s closed bedroom door.

She raised her hand up and knocked.

When the door opened, Ben’s initial reaction was surprise but then it soon faded into the blank look he always wore when he looked at Rey. 

“Do you need to use the bathroom again?”

“No Ben, I wanted to talk to you.” Ben gave a small nod and opened up the door a little more, stepping aside to let Rey in. “Look there’s no easy way to say this,” she began as she turned around to face him.

“I know,” Ben said before she could say anything else.

“You know?”

“Yeah,” Ben rubbed the back of his neck as if he was nervous, “you’re not that...slick.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You know,” Ben shrugged as he shoved his hands in his pockets, “you’re staring all the time, always seem to wa-“

“Wait wait,” Rey cut him off and she felt a laugh making its way to her chest, “do you think I _like_ you?”

“Well do you?”

Rey opened and then closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t deny she was attracted to Ben but did she like him? He got on her nerves, yes, he was an asshole, yes, but had been given her any reason to like him outside of attraction? No! Well, she was still holding out to the hope deep down that he will...

“No,” she finally replied and realized Ben is doing things to her and she doesn’t like it. 

“You took a long time to answer,” Ben told her smoothly and Rey realized how close they were now. Were they always this close?

Ben leaned in and Rey sucked in a breath, only for him to place himself by her ear.

“I can take whatever I want.”

Rey shivered from the contact or was it from the words, she didn’t know, but she was even more attracted to Ben, if that was possible.

She needed to get a hold of herself.

“I’m sure you can.” 

A sudden low hum was heard and Rey escaped the trance she was in and looked around, realizing Ben’s bedroom lights suddenly went out. 

“What was that?”

“Power,” he muttered as he pulled out his phone before putting it back in his pocket. “WiFi is down too,” he sighed and walked over to his window, glancing outside. “Looks like the whole neighborhood is out.”

“Great,” she groaned. “And I doubt it’ll be on by tomorrow.”

“Probably not,” Ben agreed. “You don’t have a backup generator?”

Rey shook her head, not wanting to admit she couldn’t afford one. Well, technically she would, one day, when her grandfather died and she’d get his inheritance but even then, Rey didn’t want his money or anything to do with him. She’d be successful on her own. 

The sound of the door opening caught Rey’s attention and Han walked in, a flashlight in his hand even though it wasn’t needed. 

“Ben I’m going to need you-Am I interrupting?” Han looked between the two of them then his eyes settled on Ben, his eyebrow lifted in the air. 

“No, I was just leaving,” Rey cleared her throat and stepped away from Ben. “Thank you for having me over,” she thanked Han and received a nod from him before Rey left the room completely.

She said her goodbyes to both Luke and Leia and then headed back home to her very hot house. Well, her house wasn’t that hot since she knew it could be a lot worse than it was, but she knew it would only get hotter throughout the day.

Rey went to her bedroom and opened up her window a little to get some air flowing in before stripping out of her dress, letting her hair down, and throwing on an oversized shirt. She fell against her bed and stared blankly up at her ceiling.

Why did Ben think Rey liked him? Did she ever make it seem like that? As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t the nicest to Ben but to be fair he wasn’t that nice to her! 

The knocking returned and Rey sighed as she realized Ben would probably drown himself in his work for the rest of the night. Hopefully it wasn’t the rest of the night but Ben just loved to work at the most inconvenient times. 

God he was going to drive her crazy, in more ways than one. He was so annoying sometimes and he could be a real ass but Rey couldn’t deny she was attracted to Ben. 

And maybe there was the slightest chance he felt the same way. Maybe. She couldn’t tell. Should she ask Rose? Finn? Poe? Rey wasn’t good with these kinds of things and maybe she should look to them for advice? 

Who was she kidding? Her and Ben? Not going to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So next chapter is the pool scene which was featured in the summary....
> 
> Not sure if there will be smut yet or not (I’m kinda leaning towards yes) but we’ll see!!
> 
> Thanks for reading and stay tuned!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long and sorry it’s so short!!! I’ve been very swamped with school lately and some stupid unnecessary personal drama but nonetheless, the next chapter is here!!! Enjoy!!

It was too hot. Hot enough that it made Rey toss and turn all night to the point where she stripped her bed of her sheets and slept with nothing.  
Taking a cold shower in the morning helped, just a little bit, but not enough to cool off completely. 

This power outage was probably the worst possible thing that could’ve happened this summer, besides Ben of course. Ben, who was still working on the gazebo from a very early hour this morning.

Rey was already hot and annoyed and Ben didn’t help the situation. At all. He always had a way of making things worse, didn’t he? 

Shaking her head at herself, Rey decided she needed to do something to occupy herself and not focus on how hot she was. 

Lunch had already passed so maybe Rey could get a head start on dinner, or at least find something to eat for dinner that wasn’t in her fridge, freezer, or required the use of her oven or stove. Worst case scenario, she could order pizza but she would let her inner chef take over before she resorted to that.

Rey had gone through all of the pantries already when she ate lunch, which was basically half a bag of chips and some packaged cookies, and wanted to see if she had anything remotely nutritious to eat. 

She had a bunch of canned vegetables so Rey decided to do something with that. Make some sort of salad thing. 

Her head turned up when she heard a slight splash and Rey glanced out of her kitchen window and gasped. 

Why was Ben Solo of all people in her pool?!

Rey tossed what she was doing aside and stomped all the way from the kitchen to her backyard. She yanked her door open, balled her hands into fists and marched to where Ben was swimming.

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Swimming,” he replied coolly and swam up to Rey’s feet, gripping the edge of the pool with his hand and looking right up at her. “You should join me.”

Rey scoffed. “Ben get out of my pool,” she demanded and Ben muttered something under his breath about her being no fun as he hoisted himself up.

Taking a step back to give him some room, Rey’s eyes went straight to Ben’s chest.

Glistening skin.

Freckles.

Abs.

_Abs._

She was screwed.

Rey was screwed for multiple reasons and the main one was she couldn’t stop looking at Ben. At all. He was so...hot? She wasn’t sure if that was the correct terminology to use but if Rey wasn’t hot before well, she surely was now.

“My eyes are up here,” Ben teased and Rey blushed. _Blushed_. She blushed so hard that Ben surely saw it and what was wrong with her? This was Ben Solo! 

Ben Solo who was completely ripped and had the faintest trail that led down to his-

“Rey,” Ben snapped her name and she blinked, meeting his eyes. 

Rey licked her suddenly dry lips and cleared her throat to try and gain some composure. “Wh-Why are you in my pool?”

“Well currently I’m not in your pool, I was in your pool,” he corrected and even his smartass answer didn’t make Rey stop feeling the heat she was now feeling all over. “And I was in your pool because it’s hot inside my house and outside and I wanted to use your pool to cool off.” Rey nodded.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Confusion overcame Ben’s face quickly. “You were just mad a second ago about it?” Rey nodded, her eyes trailing down to Ben’s toned chest again. “I think you should get in yourself, it seems like the heat’s getting to you.”

“Okay,” Rey repeated and before she knew it, she was pushed into her own pool. The water felt good against her skin, Ben was right about that part, but now she was completely soaking. She came up for air and splashed Ben when he got back in the pool. “You’re such a-”

“A what?” Ben swam up to her and even his hair wet was sexy, making Rey lose her train of thought again. “Jerk? Asshole?” Rey nodded, her heart starting to beat a bit faster than it was before. “I’m just helping a neighbor out. You said you wanted to cool off so,” his voice got deeper then or had it always been like that and Rey was just noticing it more now? 

Rey didn’t reply. She knew what to say, remind Ben of how he claimed he wasn’t her neighbor, just his parents were, but her mind wasn’t working properly enough for her to formulate a sentence and get the words out.

They were staring at each other again and that was their thing, wasn’t it? Ben was staring at her heavily and Rey noticed the way his skin glistened in the sunlight. He was breathtaking. 

His eyes looked deep into hers as if he was trying to read her mind. Try to figure out what she was thinking and Rey herself wanted to know what Ben was thinking inside that head of his. 

Rey licked her lips and Ben’s eyes followed the movement before meeting her eyes again. Shit. Did she kiss him? Wait for him to kiss her?

“Do you like me?”

Rey blinked out of her trance, coming back down to earth and looking at Ben weirdly. “What? No.”

Ben bit down on his lip and hummed. “You can tell me the truth, Rey.”

“I am telling you the truth,” she scoffed. “Why don’t you get over yourself, hm? Not every girl is going to fall for you, Ben Solo.”

“You’re not every girl though.”

“So I’m different?” Ben nodded. “How cliché of you.” 

“It’s not cliché. You’re different than any girl I meant, and not in a bad way either,” Ben was close to her again, close enough that Rey could reach out and touch him if she really wanted to. 

“That’s very cliché.”

“It is not. Look Rey,” Ben took a deep breath, suddenly looking nervous. Wait, why was he nervous?! “I’m not good with this-”

“Oh my god,” Rey cut him off quickly. “You like me!” She smiled to herself at the revelation, mainly at the fact that Ben was blushing all the way to his ears. Her stomach was also fluttering and she felt bubbly all over.

Ben laughed a very fake, unbelievable forced laughed. “I do not.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Rey called his bluff and wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck and pulled him forward in a kiss. 

She wasn’t a romantic, really she wasn’t. Rey wasn’t hopelessly romantic either or anything but kissing Ben was different. She saw the supposed stars and fireworks when they kissed and Ben’s lips were so soft and tasted faintly of chlorine and Rey found herself melting in his arms that were now delicately settled on her waist. 

Ben kissed her back slowly as if he was wanting this to last forever, not sure if it would ever happen again. Rey kissed him eagerly then, letting him know without words that it was alright. She didn’t know if she would ever be doing this again, but Rey surely hoped she would.

Their kisses became more intense as Ben relaxed and took over, not that Rey minded. The hands around her waist lowered to beneath her thighs and Rey was weightlessly lifted up and wrapped her legs around the small of his back.

Rey was pressed up against the wall of the pool and Ben moved his lips to the side of her neck, kissing his way up to his ear where he whispered, “I knew you liked me.”

“Don’t ruin this,” Rey teased and Ben chuckled against her skin. 

Ben bit down gently on her skin and Rey had never had any guy do that to her before but it felt good. When Ben didn’t again a moan escaped Rey’s lips. “You were saying?” Ben said smugly and Rey could tell he was smirking. 

“We should head inside,” she suggested rather breathlessly and Ben pulled back to look her in the eyes. 

“As long as you let me take you to dinner after.”

Rey thought that was a weird request but she nodded. “Deal.”

Almost instantly, Ben tightened his grip on her and Rey reciprocated the movement as he carried her out of the pool. He headed inside and led Rey over to her couch. Ben sat down and Rey straddled his lap, feeling and notably seeing he was hard through his swim trunks, which were of course black. 

“You told me you can take what you want,” Rey ran her hand over the front of Ben’s trunks, feeling how big he was, “and so can I.”

“Pl-Please.” Rey smirked to herself and she teased her hand at the hem of the waistline. “Rey,” Ben’s was on the verge of begging and Rey slipped her hand underneath and wrapped her hand around Ben’s cock, stroking him slowly.

Just as Ben moaned, Rey heard a knock at her door. “Oh no.”

“What’s wrong? Is this-”

“No no this is fine it’s just-“ another knock and Ben picked up on what was going on. “I’m not answering it.”

“Okay,” Ben agreed and Rey occupied herself with kissing at Ben’s neck and stroking his cock in a slow and teasing rhythm. 

The knocking continued.

“Rey?” She heard through the door and the voice sounded like a muffled Leia. “Have you seen Ben?”

“Shit,” Ben cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And of course, they were interrupted. Maybe Ben should tell his parents where he’s going so they don’t interrupt his...business.
> 
> Stay tuned for more!!

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be longer (I hope) and will have a lot more Ben/Rey interactions plus other characters.
> 
> Stay tuned!!


End file.
